CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday adjourned hearing on a PIL challenging the ban imposed on cremation of bodies at Swargadwar in Puri by people from outside the district. The Court will hold its next hearing on the matter on September 2.
The District Magistrate and Collector, Puri had issued the ban order on July 8 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Sanjeev Kumar Chinara, a resident of Netaji Nagar in Cuttack city, had filed the petition seeking the Court’s direction to revoke the order.
On July 17, the Court had issued notice to the authorities concerned and fixed August 12 for hearing along with the response. But when the petition was taken up for hearing through video conferencing on Wednesday, a counter affidavit was found to have been filed by the Collector but petitioner counsel Anjan Kumar Rout had not received a copy of it.
Taking note of it, the division bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice BR Sarangi adjourned the hearing to September 2 while allowing the petitioner counsel to file rejoinder, if any, to the counter affidavit by then.
In the counter affidavit, Collector Balwant Singh said restricting the incoming of persons from other districts / states except Puri for observance of funeral rites at Puri Swargadwar or Mahodadhi was essential to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the district.
Singh also cited the constraint of space at Swargadwar to maintain social distancing during funeral of more than two bodies at a time with the stipulated 20 persons accompanying each body, the Collector added.
In his petition, Chinara, while seeking quashing of the ban order, said, "The funeral at Swargadwar and other rituals like ‘Asthi Bisarjan’ in Mahodadhi (sea) is a matter of Hindu faith. The administration has absolutely no right to transgress a religious matter. Thus, the writ petition seeks a direction to preserve the faith, customs and a last wish of a departed soul."